My experience upgrading UT tickets to APs (still problems . . .)

[DavidNYC]

Just thought I'd update you as to my experience trying to upgrade UT MYW tickets to a new annual pass this past week. We had two 7-day park hopper with water parks which retail at Disney for just about $3 less than an annual pass.

As you probably know, UT confirmed a few weeks ago if you upgrade an activated ticket, you get the Disney price towards the upgrade.

So our first day, I went to Guest Services at AK to upgrade one of our tickets (my wife wasn't with me so I could only do mine at that point). He told me I owed $70+ dollars. I explained about the whole bridging thing and he didn't think I was correct (and when I mentioned UT he even remembered he had someone there an hour a few weeks back). I asked him to call into a manager. He came back a few minutes later and said I was correct and did it that way. (He said the whole new computer system has made everything difficult. So I did get my price and confirmation the policy is correct but I did have to ask for it and have him call a manager.

So the next day we went to guest services at Downtown Disney to do the other one. I gave her the ticket and she quoted me $70+ dollars!!! I explained about the bridging and she went back and did it that way and got me the right price (no checking with manager needed).

So - while they are continuing the upgrade policy, I was initially quoted the wrong price twice! Not sure if it was a coincidence or somethign else going on where they're only doing the upgrade with the bridged price upon request. Luckily, it didn't take me very long to get everything worked out in each location but based on my experience, if someone didn't know how this all worked, they'd be overcharged!

 

[vicki_c]

Only one question ... why did you even start at Animal Kingdom?

Actually, it's not UNcommon to be quoted the wrong price - not really related to that whole upgrade fiasco posted about here a while back. That's why so many of us here say you have to know before you go what you should be paying, and if you can't get the CM to agree that that's the price, you should just take your ticket back and try elsewhere.

I actually think your experience is pretty normal, but maybe really bad luck to get 2 consecutive CMs quoting you the wrong price.

 

[Jestocost]

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. The first time I tried this same thing a few years ago I got one wrong price quote and one wrong expiration date before I found someone who knew what to do.

I think the big issue on the other thread wasn't that the original encounter resulted in an incorrect response, but that escalating the issue to a manager failed to get the right response and then the entire thing was handled very strangely.

 

[mlittig]

I had absolutely no problem upgrading my Under Cover Tourist 10 park hoppers to new annual passes in December at Hollywood Studios I had my figures down to the penny and Steve at guest services was fantastic and our figures completely matched I had bought my tickets in August right before the price increase and thanks to the DISboards, I knew to use them first and then update so I would get full gate prices I agree that it pays to research so you know what to expect

 

[stargazertechie]

So our first day, I went to Guest Services at AK to upgrade one of our tickets (my wife wasn't with me so I could only do mine at that point). He told me I owed $70+ dollars. I explained about the whole bridging thing and he didn't think I was correct (and when I mentioned UT he even remembered he had someone there an hour a few weeks back)

Glad I made such an impression on the AK Guest Relations staff

 

[jdonat]

Hi.

We went to Epcot and were able to get our passes upgraded to AP's without too much hassle. The CM originally didn't bridge the passes, and then he remembered he had to 'bridge' the passes. He apologized, and then showed us the screen on the computer for pass upgrades.. There are a lot of options, all confusing. FYI, the cast member was a really nice Japanese CM -i think he was from Tokyo Disneyland doing an ambassador stint in the US.

Took about 20 minutes, and was painless.

Go to Epcot!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Unfortunately there has just been a new influx of College Program people, many of whom have been put in ticketing and Guest Relations. They do not understand ticketing. If you have ever tried to read my complete Ticketing sticky you will see how many complications there are. Just as an example, there are 64 different possible base tickets, with or without the No Expire Option.

 

[jdonat]

Oooh. I checked the ticket sticky before we went down in January -was a outstanding resource and I knew what needed to be done to upgrade my UT passes to my DVC annual pass.

The sticky really really helps figure out options, etc. many thanks.

One of my good friends (who also posts a lot here) has done the upgrade path before, and she confirmed the bridging process is what needs to be done.

I saw the pass screen on the computer when the EC cast member was doing our upgrades... too many options!

Seems that the best thing to do is know how the procedure works, and then if someone at the resort tells you different, get a manager, etc! Also know around what the upgrade should cost, so if it's different you have something to work with.

 

[DavidNYC]

Only one question ... why did you even start at Animal Kingdom?

LOL. Basically, we had long standing Tusker House breakfast reservations for 8 people that morning and wanted to get my Tables in Wonderland card before the meal!

I'm giving them a little benefit of the doubt due to the new computer systems. It really seemed like neither were doing anything underhanded. They swiped a card, pushed a button and gave me a price. Although they all should probably know about the bridging thing, it's definitely an added step that probably isn't needed for the vast majority of the transactions they do.

At AK, I was probably out of there with my correctly upgraded tickets in 10 minutes and at Downtown Disney, I was out of there in 5. But it definitely shows it's really worth understanding the rules before you go!

 

[doconeill]

Glad I made such an impression on the AK Guest Relations staff

Yup. All your fault.

Unfortunately there has just been a new influx of College Program people, many of whom have been put in ticketing and Guest Relations. They do not understand ticketing. If you have ever tried to read my complete Ticketing sticky you will see how many complications there are. Just as an example, there are 64 different possible base tickets, with or without the No Expire Option.

CF, did they change the ticketing system as well as the OP's CM said they did? I thought LILO was mostly restricted to reservations systems and not ATS - you'd think if they were going that far to mess up the computer system, they would have simplified the ticketing system...

 

[seashoreCM]

Have we gotten to the point where we need to print out Cheshire Figment's sticky post about bridging and bring it and, only after a problem persists for more than six minutes, hand the printed page to the CM?

... issuing an intermediate ticket at gate price, charging off any difference to an internal account ...

Superficially it is like insulting the intelligence of the CM.

 

[doconeill]

Have we gotten to the point where we need to print out Cheshire Figment's sticky post about bridging and bring it and hand it to the CM?

... issuing an intermediate ticket at gate price, charging off any difference to an internal account ...

Superficially it is like insulting the intelligence of the CM.

No, no, no...that will get you the response of "You can't believe everything you read on the Interwebs..."

Sadly, teh Intarwebs are more accurate than some CMs...

 

[fall08CP]

/hijack

Before we jump on college program students..
1) CPs don't get put in guest relations in Florida, only in California. They are professional interns (PIs). Most PIs have significant experience, many coming from previous ticketing or concierge roles. It's an extremely competitive process and they only take the best of the best.
2) There are FT new-comers in any role.. ticketing/GR included. Everyone has to start from somewhere!
3) I worked with ticket sales as a CP last year.. and I was often helping the full timers with their sales- some that had been in the role 10+ years!

/end hijack

It sounds like more of a computer issue if several CMs have noticed the same "error". When I sold tickets I was very aware of "price bridging" because it was drilled into us during training. The computer would spit out a number, but you'd have to go through a few checks to make sure it was right. If you're going too quickly, you tend to miss things- the things that my more experienced peers needed help with. It happens. We make mistakes. But most of all of them can be fixed